


Once In a Blue Moon

by surprisepink



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alcohol, During Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), F/F, Flirting, Late Night Conversations, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21596284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surprisepink/pseuds/surprisepink
Summary: Set mid-timeskip. Dorothea and Edelgard share a private moment.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 5
Kudos: 73





	Once In a Blue Moon

Dorothea finds Edelgard where she has come to expect she will be at this time of night: in her personal quarters. Many things - far too many - have changed in Garreg Mach over these last four years, and yet none of their group have thought to change the locations of their bedrooms. She was sure Edelgard would, at first; she had become Emperor, after all, and surely there were lodgings more befitting of an Emperor elsewhere behind the vast castle walls. But weeks passed, then months, and maps and letters and books had piled up until that small dormitory room was bursting with the tools of Edelgard's ambitions; plans and secrets lay there, carefully organized in a way only Edelgard seemed to fully understand.

It seems fitting, really; for all of Edelgard's grandiose actions and passionate words, she's never seemed to have much interest in personal indulgences. Back in their academy days, she had politely declined all of Dorothea's invitations for Saturday shopping trips in town and had seemed downright confused when it was suggested she might want to wear a nice crimson lip to the ball. Any time spent picking out, redecorating, and organizing a space would have been time that could have been spent taking steps toward their future. 

Dorothea knocks once, three times, and once again; Hubert had insisted on a code, one that included different patterns for each of the Eagles should an enemy manage to get past the castle guards. After a moment she hears a shifting, a chair scraping across the floor, then the unfastening of two locks. Paltry security, really, but it’s a relief that the war hasn’t left her friend fully inaccessible.

The door swings open, a smile on Edelgard's face, but there are bags under her eyes and her hair is in a messy bun, a far cry from the perfect composure she prefers to show to the public. It’s almost a comfort to see this side of her, almost vulnerable. "Dorothea," she says, as cheerfully as she's been able to manage lately, "please, come in."

The room is as organized as ever, a surprising calm among the turmoil that has been all of their lives as of late. Dorothea's own organization skills have been slowly slipping ever since her focus took a sudden shift from securing a happy future to securing her own life; she's glad that Edelgard rarely has the time to drop in and disapprove of the state of her bedroom, floor littered with trinkets that don't seem important enough to pick up after watching her friends nearly die in battle. She wishes, suddenly, that she could ask to stay the night, to enjoy this illusion of stability.

"Is something the matter?" Edelgard asks, starting Dorothea out of her reverie.

"Nothing," Dorothea shakes her head. "I just..." wanted to say hello? They had been together not hours before, at dinner. Was lonely? The complaint seemed petty, even though Edelgard would never say as much.

"I missed you." Those are Edelgard's words, but they could have been Dorothea's. It seems silly; they see each other every day, sometimes for hours at a time if that day's plans call for them to fight side by side. And yet it feels like centuries since they've been able to speak candidly, away from the battlefield and the war room. "Silly, isn't it? It's not as if we've been apart, and yet..."

"No, I agree. Are you busy?"

Edelgard almost laughs. "I'll never not be. Please, stay a while." Edelgard looks so small, stripped of her armor and dressed in a simple tunic and trousers. She pats a spot on the bed and for an instant Dorothea almost feels like she's attending a sleepover, as if the two of them are about to gossip about which boys they'd like to kiss. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sure, thank you," she says, expecting her friend to have some tea prepared that she hadn't noticed. Edelgard instead reaches under the bed to pull out a bottle and two glasses. She pours a generous amount in each, and Dorothea takes a delicate sniff when she's handed one.

"I hope it's to your liking. I only drink once in a blue moon, so it's been open for a while, but it should still be flavorful."

"Brandy?" Dorothea asks, and Edelgard nods as she takes a sip. It’s woody, with a subtle sweetness, and tastes like it costs more than some commoners see in a month. She’s never been one to get drunk - it leaves her too vulnerable - but she can appreciate the care it must have taken to craft such a fine spirit.

"Good, isn't it?" Edelgard sits down, legs crossed and almost touching Dorothea's.

"I haven't had anything like this since I left the opera," she says, and lets a second sip slowly warm her tongue.

Since the war began Edelgard's expressions have grown more subtle, but it's impossible for Dorothea not to notice when her lips turn down just slightly. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You would have returned to Mittelfrank after your schooling, and now..." Edelgard shakes her head.

Ah. "I would have," Dorothea pauses, choosing her words carefully; it’s true that some days she’d give anything to be back on stage, to reclaim those moments when the only thing that mattered was a successful performance. “But things have changed.”

“You should hate me for it, nonetheless.”

“There are things that are more important than my dreams right now.”  
In truth, Dorothea hasn’t considered her own dreams for quite some time; right now, all that mattered to any of them were Edelgard’s. Thoughts of a peaceful life, of marriage and stability, have had to leave her head in favor of getting stronger, of surviving. Of leading the nation to a new dawn, if that was even possible.

Edelgard's glass is emptying more quickly than Dorothea expected, as if she's seeking liquid courage. "Can you tell me more? About Mittelfrank, that is."

"You’ve attended, before we knew each other"

"What it was like for you, I mean. We fight side by side and yet it feels like I know nothing about you before we met. I love the opera, but I know nothing about what it’s like to be a singer."

"Well, I'm sure you've heard that joined on Professor Manuela's recommendation. From there, it was like a whirlwind - I had the talent, but didn't know any music theory. So those years were nothing but learning, practicing, and performing. It sounds glamorous, but it's really all just studying and working hard, just like any other trade."

"It sounds like you miss it," Edelgard says, and Dorothea realizes that there must be a fondness in her voice.

"Mm, sometimes. When I was onstage, it was impossible to worry about anything else. The lights are so bright you can't even see the audience, so it always felt like it was just me and the music."

"A far cry from what we’re doing now."

"In some ways it is, and in some ways not. If it came down to it I’m sure you’d make a great actress as well."

"Could I?" Edelgard blinks.

"You give speeches sometimes. It's not so different."

"I suppose you're right."

"And you're good at acting like everything is all right."

Edelgard lets out a breath that’s almost a sigh. "What makes you think I'm acting?"

"We all are."

A silence falls over them then, and Dorothea isn't sure she's said the right thing, though she knows it's the truth. She's seen each of them, in their own ways, slowly lose their composure as this whole thing has dragged on, seemingly endlessly. For Edelgard that has meant more time spent locked up in her room, pouring over documents that lead to nothing. Her voice sometimes cracking during war cries on the battlefield, her grip on her axe sometimes slipping just slightly right before it ends the life of a peasant unfortunate enough to join the wrong mercenary group. Fewer smiles.

Come to think of it, when Edelgard answered the door, it was the first time that Dorothea had seen a real smile from her in she didn't know how long.

"I don't mind if you confide in me, you know," Dorothea finally says, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. It’s doubtful Edelgard will accept the offer; she’s never been much for expressing her feelings. "You haven't had anybody to do that with to since Professor Byleth left." She feels Edelgard tense at her words, but continues. "I know I'm not the same, but maybe it would help."

"The Professor was... no, it's not the same. But thank you, Dorothea."

"You're in love with them, I know." Dorothea forces a laugh, hoping to make light of her own jealousy. "I just can't compare!"

"That isn't it."

"Oh Edie, come on! We've all heard how you talk about them, all 'if the professor was here, we would have won much easier' and 'Byleth swore to fight by my side'."

"As I've said before, I have no time for romance. I may have thought about it, during our idle school days," as if she had ever been idle! Dorothea thinks "But I can't hold a flame forever. Of course I will welcome them back to our side the moment they reappear, but it's not like we'll be having a rendezvous in the moonlight."

"And with me?" There's a lightness in Dorothea's voice, the tone she uses for idle flattery. It doesn't sound sincere, and she knows Edelgard can tell, so she's surprised when a blush tints her cheeks. "Oh, you know I'm joking!"

"You shouldn't jest about that kind of thing, or some poor maiden will take you seriously one day.

"Mm, if we're talking about our feelings, I don't think women are very interested in me. It was much easier to get male suitors, when I was concerned about that kind of thing."

"You're talented onstage and you're a magical prodigy, any woman would be lucky to have you," Edelgard pauses, then: "And you're beautiful. Er, objectively speaking, that is."

A warmth that she can't fully describe spreads in Dorothea's chest and she thinks that she'll remember Edie calling her beautiful for the rest of her life. "You've had too much to drink!"

"Perhaps. I feel like the liquor has made me turn beet red!" Ah, right, it must be the liquor. _You're beautiful, too._ is what Dorothea wants to say, then: _I wouldn't mind if we shared a rendezvous_.

Instead, she yawns, stretches; "If that's it, I guess I should go to bed."

"Can you stay?" Edelgard asks, and her eyes are soft, revealing a certain vulnerability. Dorothea nods; she can’t even stand to break the gaze, let alone begin to imagine denying Edelgard anything.

It’s Edelgard who looks away first, when she gets up to out the candle. Dorothea lies back on the bed, then pats the spot next to her when Edelgard returns, although she’s half expecting that Edelgard will pull out a cot from the same place she got the brandy. Instead, Edelgard places herself next to Dorothea, politely positioning herself as far on the other side as possible.

It doesn't make much of a difference, really; they're almost touching as it is and then Dorothea reaches her hand out and gives Edelgard's a gentle squeeze. She had planned to let go after that, but she doesn't, and neither does Edelgard. It feels right somehow, the two of them together like this, a comfort that Dorothea doesn’t know how to describe. "Goodnight, Edie. You need to rest."

"I'm not very tired, but you go ahead. I usually stay up later than this."

"Accompanying me to bed just to keep me company? How sweet you are."

Edelgard hums in agreement as Dorothea closes her eyes. For the first time since she can remember she sleeps easily, safe and content. As long as Edelgard is still here in the morning, the next day will be a little easier.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't attempted fanfiction in ages but Fire Emblem has a way of seducing me into writing.
> 
> Feel free to say hi on twitter @seraphknights!


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